Former Detroit athletic director Brad Kinsman says Kampe's recollection is accurate. Kinsman recalls Detroit determined back then that it didn't made sense to share the Motor City market with another school in the same league.

Kampe hopes the Horizon wants Oakland to fill the void created last week when Butler announced plans to join the Atlantic 10. He's also hoping the Titans view the Golden Grizzlies potentially joining the conference as a win-win deal.

I'm certainly with Kampe that Oakland should be in the Horizon, to help the Horizon in Michigan. But that said, even with a strong Oakland program, I still see more benefits for the Horizon to get back into Indianapolis. Losing Butler alone hurt...school could have been based out of Fargo. But Losing the Indianapolis market hurts a lot. IUPUI could replace that. Not to mention, IUPUI is a larger school than most in the Summit, a better fit for the Horizon.

IUPUI has an enrollment that doubles the next largest in the Summit. But in the Horizon, their 28k enrollment would be 2nd or 3rd largest school.

I'm certainly with Kampe that Oakland should be in the Horizon, to help the Horizon in Michigan. But that said, even with a strong Oakland program, I still see more benefits for the Horizon to get back into Indianapolis. Losing Butler alone hurt...school could have been based out of Fargo. But Losing the Indianapolis market hurts a lot. IUPUI could replace that. Not to mention, IUPUI is a larger school than most in the Summit, a better fit for the Horizon.

IUPUI has an enrollment that doubles the next largest in the Summit. But in the Horizon, their 28k enrollment would be 2nd or 3rd largest school.

So where would IUPUI play home games? Their high school gym sucks. No school in Indy should play in something that small.

I'm certainly with Kampe that Oakland should be in the Horizon, to help the Horizon in Michigan. But that said, even with a strong Oakland program, I still see more benefits for the Horizon to get back into Indianapolis. Losing Butler alone hurt...school could have been based out of Fargo. But Losing the Indianapolis market hurts a lot. IUPUI could replace that. Not to mention, IUPUI is a larger school than most in the Summit, a better fit for the Horizon.

IUPUI has an enrollment that doubles the next largest in the Summit. But in the Horizon, their 28k enrollment would be 2nd or 3rd largest school.

So where would IUPUI play home games? Their high school gym sucks. No school in Indy should play in something that small.

Yes, it's small. But so is Oaklands. Funny how the top 2 options both have the worst gyms.

It's amazing to me that more schools don't get it from a facilities standpoint.

You can't control what the rest of your conference does, what referees and umpires do, what the weather does, what high school juniors are going to decide on which school to go to, what stupid decisions they make in college, what they do in class, etc.

The one thing you can control is the facilities. If you have a nice crib, you get more recruits and more TV games. Period.

It's amazing to me that more schools don't get it from a facilities standpoint.

You can't control what the rest of your conference does, what referees and umpires do, what the weather does, what high school juniors are going to decide on which school to go to, what stupid decisions they make in college, what they do in class, etc.

The one thing you can control is the facilities. If you have a nice crib, you get more recruits and more TV games. Period.

Not long ago, they moved up to a position of some power, with a number of conferences below them.

But if they lost those 3 schools, they'd be down to what, 6 schools? Seems like a lock that they'd go after Idaho, Boise St., Denver and Utah Valley if they were available. Worst case scenario, they'd have to hope for Denver, Seattle and Utah Valley for a 9 school membership. Luckily, Seattle, Denver and SLC are easy flight destinations for the trips out west.

Summit will be fine it appears, since really, it seems like 4 schools leaving would be the maximum...since the Big Sky has so many members already, less of a threat.

jsonline article indicating Horizon League has a 5,000 seat minimum capacity for basketball. Milwaukee has been granted a waiver to move back to campus facility. I assume this is temporary while they build a new arena on campus.

Oakland, IUPUI, and Robert Morris do not meet this requirement, and the latter two do not have baseball. IPFW arena meets the requirement, and they have baseball.

So is the Oakland and Belmont part still true? Belmont will be paying lots of exit fees ASC & OVC. Who would be 12, IPFW? I bet UNA hopes Belmont leaves that way they can try and get the 12th spot unless NKU wants to leave a conf they just got in. UNA is the better option, I don't know if the OVC knows that.

I find the Belmont element of this new rumor suspicious. The Bruins have just landed a spot in the OVC and they are located in the biggest market in that conference and are right in the middle of the footprint. They are also a basketball-first school in a football league which means their tourney prospects are very good in the OVC. It strikes me that a move to the HL would be costly and create a lot of travel for them.

However, Oakland moving makes a ton of sense--travel partner for Detroit etc.I could also see Evansville wanting to move into a new home where they would be more competitive.

Perhaps we should swap out Belmont for Robert Morris. It gives you a nice East/West split:

Came across this today. Obviously not coming as a surprise to any of us that they will expand, but I did think it was interesting that he says he expects a lot of moves between now and the Final Four. It's a week and a half old so maybe he was just referring to the Catholic 7/Big East situation, but seeing as how he's taking a patient approach, I wonder if he's hoping a conference like the MVC will get hit soon (more than Creighton).

Whatever the case, looks like the Horizon has a solid group and can set back for awhile rather than expanding too quickly.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum